Spare ribs

Spare ribs, also called side ribs or spareribs, are a cut of pork taken from the lower part of the pig, covering the belly and breastbone area behind the shoulder, and they include eleven to thirteen long bones with meat and fat over them. They are distinguished from short ribs and are flatter than the curved back ribs, with more bone than meat and a good deal of fat. Spare ribs are normally cooked low and slow, smoked, grilled or braised. In Chinese cooking, where they are called paigu, they are cut into short sections and fried, steamed or braised, and in Cantonese cooking they are roasted with a sweet and savoury sauce as one of the siu mei meats. They are also central to barbecue in the southern United States, where the St. Louis cut trims away the sternum and rib tips.